Witches
by chris-daae
Summary: Based on a prompt from tumblr: "I'm fine. Really." "Are all witches bad?", Irène asked, a curiosity and innocence that only children have in her eyes.


It was a peaceful evening. Erik sat on his chair, reading the newspaper, while Meg was on the couch, in a relaxed pose, reading a romance. Little Irène, now eight years old, was just learning how to read, and Erik being Erik bought for her every children's book he could find. The little girl sat on the floor, with one of them in hands, copying her parents.

"Mama.", Irène suddenly called. Meg lifted her eyes from her book.

The little girl had grown taller and thinner in the last months, but still had chubby cheeks and a belly. She was now taller than most girls her age. Her skin was lighter than Meg's but not as pale as Erik's. She had dark and long hair, and her brown eyes reminded Meg of her own late father's, while her smile was surely Erik's.

"Are all witches bad?", Irène asked, a curiosity and innocence that only children have in her eyes.

Meg gripped on her book. Her eyes lowered. Her daughter was reading a fairytale. That's how she heard of witches and their bad spells. She was only curious. There was nothing behind it.

But still, Meg couldn't reply.

"Of course not!", Erik replied. He folded the newspaper over his lap and gave his wife a worried look. "Witches are just like people. Some are bad, some are good. Just like there are bad and good people."

"Then why in stories the witches are always bad?", Irène.

"Because witches are such powerful creatures, that when they are bad they can make a big mess.", Erik was a great storyteller. He told the most fantastic tales to Irène. He would change his voice and make gestures, and there was a glow in his eyes as he spoke. Irène loved it, and Meg too.

Meg would have admired how he dealt with the situation, if she wasn't so immersed in her worries.

"Like cursing the whole kingdom?", Irène asked.

"Yes.", Erik turned to the clock on the wall, making an exaggerated expression of worry. "Look at the time. It's late, my princess. You should go to bed."

"Aaah.", Irène moaned, not wanting to go yet. "Do I really have to go?"

"Yes. Now be a good girl and go to sleep."

Irène closed her book and left it on the floor.

"Good night, Papa. Good night, Mama.", with these words, she stood up and went to her room.

Meg had barely moved since the question. Her hands slightly trembled. Erik sat down on the couch beside her.

"Meg? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine.", Meg said, trying to calm herself. Erik gave her a suspicious look. "Really, I'm fine."

A pause. Erik kept looking at Meg with a worried expression, while Meg looked forward.

"That's what they used to call me.", she whispered. "Daughter of the witch."

Erik nodded. He knew that story. By the time he first met Meg, this wasn't happening so much anymore, but he still heard sometimes people refer to her as that.

"Because of mother's superstitions.", Meg continued. "They used to make such mean pranks." She reached for Erik's hand. "The kids couldn't be doing the same to our baby, right?"

Erik held her hand tightly. Like Meg, he had suffered his own share of mean pranks during his childhood. He knew kids could be cruel sometimes. Just the thought that Irène could have to deal with the same things even once made him wish to keep his daughter home forever, protected from the cold world outside.

It would be a lie if he said he didn't worry about this often. Ever since Meg first told him about her pregnancy, he thought of millions of ways of protecting his child.

"Are they really that bad?", Erik asked, turning away from Meg, but still holding her hand. "Witches, I mean. Are they really so terribly bad?"

Meg didn't understand why he was asking this. It was not the point. She knew well that she wasn't a witch, like her mother wasn't either, so what would it matter if they were bad or not?

"Think of it. Humans are not all good. Some are good, some are bad, some are neither even." There was something unnatural in the way Erik spoke, it was somehow like the way he told his stories. It was like it was something he planned to say for a long time. "I think it's the same for witches and monsters. They are not all bad. They don't have to be bad."

"Well, it doesn't matter if they are bad or not.", Meg sighed. "People will still threat badly everyone they see as bad, no matter if it's true or not."

Erik nodded.

"They will. They always will, right?", Erik took Meg's hand between both of his, caressing it. "I have been thinking about it. I think changing the world is too hard. We can't control what people are going to tell our daughter, Meg."

"Are you saying we should just let this happen and do nothing?", Meg felt anger rising inside of her. How could he even suggest something like this?

"No, in no way. Believe me, I want more than anyone to break the neck of anyone who makes our little princess cry.", he tried to sound like he was exaggerating, but he really was not. "But I know I could not protect her forever, as much as I wished."

"So what?", Meg asked, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"I think we should instead teach her to protect herself.", noticing that Meg seemed ready to shout at him, Erik explained himself. "I am not saying we should let her fight alone, dear, on the contrary. We are here for her, and I swear that I will fight for her until I let out my last sigh. But we have to know our limits. We have to know that we can't change the world. But we have to show her that she will be loved no matter what. That what anyone may say won't ever change who she really is. We have to give her the means to fight this cruel world on her own, so that when we're gone we will know she will be just fine."

Meg gave it some thought. It was painful but she knew it was true.

"I think you are right."

"I know I am."

Even as a few more tears felt, Meg could smile.

"If it does happen, we won't let Irène suffer alone. We will let her know that she doesn't need to let others hurt her. She will know that their words can't define who she is."

Erik nodded. Meg nodded back, before hugging him.

"You are proving to be a pretty good father. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I don't know what you would do without me either.", Erik joked. After some thought, he added. "I know what I would do without you though. I would die in some stupid way."

Meg laughed, and gently slapped his shoulder.

She knew Irène would be alright.


End file.
